The latest version (1.1.1) has a really nice interface and imported my library rather nicely. I was in the middle of listening to a podcast on iTunes on my Mac, so I didn’t play with it too much on my Windows install. So I installed Songbird on my Mac and asked it to grab my iTunes library (which is mostly podcasts I haven’t listened to and a little bit of music). It seemed ok with it though it didn’t grab my podcast subscriptions (which is annoying though not unexpected. So next step was to ask Songbird to subscribe to a podcast. It’s most definitively not the most intuitive thing in the world at this point as it only seems to support RSS or a single location (if I’m wrong, please correct me). It’s not that bad except it doesn’t seem to understand that a lot of podcasts are not something you want to keep. So podcast features could use to still improve.

What really struck me was the resources. So Songbird was just sitting idle now on my Intel Macbook and iTunes was currently playing back an mp3 podcast (mono but reasonable bitrate). Songbird was taking ~100MB of RAM just sitting there while iTunes used ~23MB to play back. Ouch. Even more surprising was that Songbird was taking between 8 and 10 percent of my cpu (again, doing nothing) while iTunes was taking about 4 percent while playing back. Again, ouch.

I don’t want to say Songbird is all bad by any means. It does seem to have a very nice installer and “assistant” for setting things up (like how Quicksilver does which I think is a very good system when done well). I’ll try to post a more detailed review after actually using it for music and maybe some music/web browsing after I do use it. It also is a good multiplatform mediaplayer. I just do believe at least the Mac client could use some more optimizations before I want it to take over for iTunes on my laptop that I like to try to optimize battery live anyway. If you want to play with a new media player, it’s definitely worth a look.

The album starts off with a 2 track intro (of sorts). It is a very ambient introduction that seems to bring you to a dark and somewhat problematic location. It is another album that seems to want to take the listener on a trip, but this is a very different trip than what was seen in In Medias Res. In the second track, Distant Scenery, you get a bit of curiosity brimming in an otherwise desolate environment. The music become more interesting and much more chill than ambient. The same feeling gets much more intense as we enter Start, my personal favorite track of the album (though song 5, Stuck In a Loop, is very close). This takes in a lot move bass than a lot of chillout, but in a very cool way. I honestly was taken off guard by how cool this track really sounded to me. The two tracks really blended together well to give me a strong feeling. It seemed to calm down for a moment only to come rushing back again at full force. The track does conclude nicely before it seems that we move into Root Escape, the next track. Up to this point, you wouldn’t really know that Steam and Where The Skys End were done by the same artist easily. It is a very different starting feel. I really like this part.

Root Escape has actually been up on chilloutmixes.com for a very long time, but it isn’t the same version that is here. This version holds a much darker feel, but it does seem to bring something of a light to the end of the tunnel. I do get some of the feel of Steam starting to show here. Stuck In A Loop is the next track that seems very much like a bridge between the Steam-like ending part and the new style beginning part of the CD. It has a very interesting feel to start that slowly seems to bring some of the harsher tones that you might recognize from Steam into play. A subtle voice track is used at one part (too softly in my opinion; it seemed as though it could be a very cool sound but it is overpowered by the piano track). This track just seems to fade away until Obscure Scenery starts playing. Obscure Scenery starts really weird with a clapping sound. I wouldn’t call the sound a good way to start a track either. It’s somewhat harsh for coming out of a track that just faded to silence. This track seems to show the last of the new style before we seem to plunge very much into the older Steam style music from Cardamar. It has some of the same kind of weird, off sounds that sounded a bit experimental but not always the most fluid sound. The clapping in the background seems to really be out of place when it becomes more flowing. Rather abruptly it ends and moves to a burning sound of Dancing On The Furnace. This doesn’t start with a chillout feel at all and instead actually feels like it could be house or trance. Some strong but slow other sounds help to keep a somewhat ambient background for somewhat of a dance-inspired track. It feels very repetative to me (though for someone who enjoys house more, it might be great). It is followed by Chilling on the Furnace which seems to be a sort of rest afterwards. This is a quite nice chillout track. I can’t say that it struck me as particularly innovative, but the happy, somewhat jungle feel of the music is nice. It seems as though it could become something absolutely great if taken far enough. Unfortunately, it seems as though the track is restrained for some reason. It stays too traditional to be great.

After going through the first 8 tracks of the 19, you unfortunately have experience a lot of the better sections. The remainder of the CD is a lot like Chilling on the Furnace. I don’t mean the jungle feel, but I do mean the Steam-like style mixed with common or traditional chillout. It never gets increadibly complex nor simplistic. The sounds aren’t new nor revolutionary. Tears of a Man Who Never Cried (really cool name) is another track that is pretty cool, but I think it uses too much piano to be as cool as the beginning (but it is another cool track). The two tracks after that also start in a cool fashion, but the song progresses to just feel like another Steam-inspired track.

The end of the CD is disappointing. If it ended at Beyond the Stars, it would have ended in an interesting use of white-noise. Unfortunately there is the final track, Beyond the Infinite, that adds in an overused violin-ish sound that doesn’t sound particularly interesting by this point. For the close, the entire mix of sound just fades off without real conclusion. That is disappointing.

Overall, the CD is good. I would say that tracks 2-4 are not to be missed, but the rest is only as great as you felt about Steam (and you want a lot more of that). You can pick out the tracks you want and listen to previews using iTunes, so I would say that is your best bet if you are in doubt. I hope that in future Cardamar CDs we see much more of the front half of the cd and fall away from his original style.

The interface itself is different. You use the 2.5 in. touchscreen for everything normally. It isn’t cumbersome or anything if you do realize that it takes one tap to just wake up the interface. I actually see that as an advantage to stop stray taps from doing anything. Scrolling in songs is the only action that is a bit difficult to just use your fingers to do, but it isn’t impossible. Also, if you are anything like me, you only use next track and previous track; scrolling inside of tracks is a feature I pretty much stay away from.

The screen itself is bright and vibrant. I have yet to encode a movie and try it on the screen, but I imagine, although small, it does seem to have a good picture. Lines are crisp and colors seem very accurate.

The size and weight of the device are quite comfortable to carry. I left it in my pocket all day without even noticing it there. Also, walking with it seemed rather natural.

The device has two ports: a 5 pin usb mini b (the normal usb mini) and a 4 pin usb mini b (smaller than the other). The 5 pin is used for everything from data transfers to TV out if you buy the cable. The 4 pin is used for charging from the wall. I would suspect if you have a 4 pin cable, you could charge from your computer as well, but I have not tried it (i don’t have a usb a male to usb mini 4 pin b male cable laying around).

To transfer files, it mounts as a standard usb mass storage device and you can transfer files by copying folders into wherever you want. I used my ubuntu linux set up to copy my files over without any problems. The device seems a little slow (it seems to take a chunk of data, hesitate, then continue), but nothing too terrible. I do have to say that it deals with incomplete files well by playing what is there and then just going to the next track without any errors (I disconnected it early once).

My first impressions are to love this device. With the changable SD card slot that supports SDHC (the 4+GB SD cards), this device seems extremely versitile. It is fun to use, but the screen may be a bit small for active video watching. If you want a review from someone who has had it for longer, check out the AnythingButIPod review.

A 4GB model is about USD200 and the 2GB is currently about USD160-170

Also, Freefalling into Freedom (on chilloutmixes.com) is a great mix. The use of kettle was somewhat surprising but very well done. Check it out.

The tutorials are coming later still. I hope to finish them … um.. maybe by tuesday. So just hang in there! I made the reward better in compensation for the delay and will make it easier to get even without doing the optional third demo. Sorry for the delay.

Also, there is a new mix from Cardamar available. Honestly, i haven’t even listened to the full thing yet, so head over to chilloutmixes.com and check it out.

Also, I just got Cardamar‘s latest CD. I need to write a review on that as well. There was a new mix released by Marco Torrance in the past couple weeks also, so be sure to check out chillout mixes if you haven’t recently.

That’s all i can say for now.

In other music related news, iTunes is going to start distributing its music without DRM. This will only be for EMI stuff, but that’s definitely awesome. Per track it’s USD 0.30 more, but the same for full albums¹. Also, Beat Port now sells wav’s (uncompressed pure quality) versions of music (for a premium) also. Very cool advancement. In both cases, the original versions are also available.

I need to get more time and music… working on both. Til later

Atlantis Rising is a new age cd that follows the idea of new age is similar to chillout. This actually could be related to ambient at times as well. It does have quite a few synths in the music, but it is all flowing. At times it even seems to give off an organic feel. Throughout the CD though, it is very rich sounding. I wouldn’t call it as rich as someone such as S. Zeilenga, but it has good depth on every track. There is variety also. Not everything is very ambient nor is it all organic. Little bits of both will appear in every track though. Each leaves a distinct feeling in its wake, but all are very well done. One of the main downsides to the CD is its length. It lasts a mere 52 minutes and leaves you desiring more. I can’t say that the ends of the CD are poorly done though. The lead in and lead out tracks are particularly good at their jobs. It really can get you in the mood for what the rest of the CD is about to present. The end track, “The Hero’s Journey,” is a stronger and less delicate track that the introduction, but there is an organic element that ties the tracks together regardless. I would say the cd is pretty good overall. Most chillout lovers would be pleased.